Just as restaurants and retail stores undergo health inspections, street vendors on and around Ohio State are no different.

Barb Seckler, assistant director of the Columbus Department of Safety, said just about anyone can get a vendor’s license, but they are closely regulated.

“They are checked regularly by a group of inspectors from the safety department,” she said.

Seckler said any food vendor must purchase a pushcart license and must have health and fire approval because of safety laws for food. Anyone who wishes to get a license must first go through a background check.

“This makes sure that they have no felony convictions in the last five years,” she said.

Bill Langston, a pushcart operator on High Street, said the inspection checks are frequent and thorough.

“I have been selling on High for about five years. They come every few months to make sure I’m not breaking any health laws,” he said. “It can sometimes be a real pain.”

Seckler said the safety department conducts a lot of inspections of the food vendors to ensure they are safe.

“We want to make sure you are getting food that is healthy and that they are following the laws,” she said.

However, one student said these inspections may not be enough. Sarah Gladner, a junior in marketing, said she used to frequently purchase food from the vendors but refuses to buy from them again.

“I got a gyro from a guy downtown a couple of months ago after leaving a bar. The next day I had to go to the hospital because of food poisoning,” she said.

While Gladner said she cannot be sure if she got sick from the food she bought from the vendor, she said she is not going to eat anything from them again.

“I just want to be careful from now on. That was the worst experience of my life,” she said.

Seckler said there are also regulations on vendors who sell memorabilia. These operators must receive a peddler’s license from the city.

“A peddler’s license costs $27 and a pushcart, or food, license costs $30,” she said.

She said the safety department regulates all vendors who operate on the east side of High Street, but vendors must get permission from OSU to sell on the west side. She said mostly they operate on a first come, first serve basis.

There is a large demand to sell food and memorablilia on Lane Avenue on football Saturdays, and as a result the vendors are chosen randomly in a lottery.

Seckler said most vendors are independently owned and operated and many people will start a small business this way.

“This is a potentially lucrative small business,” she said. “Many people will sell their carts and then open a store with the money they made.”